Heating apparatus



(No Model.)

J. LEWIS. HEATING APPARATUS. No. 442,191. Patented Dec. 9, 1890.

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WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES LEW'IS, OF OIL OITY, ASSIGNOR OF NINE-SIXTEEN'THS TO FRANII M. ASIIMEAD, OF I-IULTON, E. O. PALMER, OF ALLEGHENY, AND JOHN GRIPP AND GEORGE R. MILLER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEATING APPARATUS.

GPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,191, dated December 9, 1890.

Application filed June 3, 1890. Serial No. 354,096- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oil City, Venango county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In that class of heating apparatus illustrated in Letters Patent No. 372,032, granted to me October 25, 1887, a current of cold air is received into a channel which is heated externally by steam or otherwise and communicates with a succession of radiators, so that the heated air is forced through the channel to heat said radiators and thereafter escapes to the atmosphere. This mode of heating had proved advantageous and economical, but has also proved to be of limited applicability, first, because of the incapacity of the air to retain heat for over a very limited length of time, and, secondly, because of the necessity of constantly raising the inflowing air from the external temperature to that of the heating-current. In the course of experiments I have found that a very slight addition of moisture to the atmosphere and the circulation of the air obviates these objections, so that it is practicable to heat to any required temperature all the radiators in a train of any required length.

In carrying out my invention I provide, in connection with the radiators and circulatingpipes, a heater, means for circulating the air, and means for maintaining a substantiallyuniform degree of moisture therein,all of which will be described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway-train showing my improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the airheater, air-propelling device, and air-moistening apparatus.

The general arrangement of the radiators 0c in the successive cars O of a train is illustrated in Fig. 1, in which Z) I) represent the forwarding and return pipes or channels of the system connected in line between the cars by suitable flexible couplings f, the two pipes 11 b of the rear end of the last carbeing coupled to communicate.

Upon the locomotive or any other car when a special heater is used I arrange a coil B or other device having a channel for the air, which is put in circuit with the pipes I) Z), and which when on the locomotive is arranged within the boiler, combustion-chamber, firebox, or in any other position, when it will be heated and maintained hot, and I arrange at any desired point a steam-pump D, or a blower-injector, or any other air-propelling apparatus, whereby the air is compelled to pass through the coil to be heated, and is then driven through all the radiators and pipes of the circuit back to the pump and again into the coil. By this means the temperature of the air is maintained without that loss of fuel which results from admitting a constant supply of cold air into the circuit and dischargin g the partially cooled air to the atmosphere.

\Yhile there is a decided advantage from thus continuing circulating the air, I have found that with long trains it is not possible to maintain the more distant radiators at the proper temperature, and I have discovered that this may be remedied by moistening the air.

As a means of automatically supplying a practically uniform amount of moisture to the air in circulation, I prefer to pass it through a tank of water E, as shown in Fig. 2. Thus in passing through the tank E, if the air contains an excess of moisture, it will leave a portion of it condensed in the tank. If it be very dry it will take up some moisture, and if it be sufficiently moistened it will not be altered. Of course the amount of moisture taken up will depend in a measure upon the temperature of the air as it passes through the water, and for this reason I prefer to locate the tank at a point where the air is not too hot-as, for instance, in the return-passage to the heater. The bestlocation in each particular case will depend upon the kind of heater, the apartments to be heated, and other circumstances, and must be governed thereby.

The addition of a very slight amount of moisture insures not onlya higher initial temperature of the fluid, but also increases its capacity to take up and retain the heat imparted to the coil, so that even in extremely long trains there is no difficulty in heating and keeping at the proper temperature the radiators farthest from the heater.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim 1. The combination, with the endless 21i1 circulating system including the pipes, heater, radiators, and propelling apparatus, of means for automatically maintaining a substantially uniform degree of moisture in the air in the circulating, system, consisting of a tank included in said system andprovided with water through which the air passes, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the endless aircirculating system includingthe pipes, heater, radiators, and air-propelling apparatus, of a water-tank arranged in the return air-passage to the heater and having the inlet-pipe arranged below the water-level in the tank, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

V V 7 JAMES LEWIS, Witnesses:

CHARLES E. FOSTER, W. S. MoARTHUR. 

